Cake Island, the top floor of Cake City. In the depths of the venue, beside a round table laden with food, stood a middle-aged woman. She was eight point eight meters tall, obese and bloated, and wore a loose pink dress. Long, curly pink hair framed a ferocious face, and a pirate hat sat atop her head. She was gorging herself on the various sweets on the round table, completely devoid of any etiquette or grace. But...
Yet, none of the well-dressed, refined people around dared to show any expression of disdain or disgust towards her. Because...
This old woman was the captain of the Big Mom Pirates, the king of Totto Land, the Four Emperors Big Mom Charlotte Linlin! Sephiroth held a glass goblet filled with 'sister juice' in his hand and walked to the side of the round table where Big Mom Charlotte Linlin was, finding a seat. Stussy and the others did the same. After Big Mom threw a cream puff into her mouth and swallowed it, she chuckled towards him.
"Mamamama! Long time no see, Sephiroth... No! I misspoke, it should be our first meeting."
Hearing this, Sephiroth slightly raised an eyebrow, revealing a thoughtful expression on his face, but he didn't ask. He merely smiled and nodded. Step! Step! Step! A series of neat footsteps sounded. A team of Chess soldiers, marching in formation from a distance, slowly but surely walked toward the round table. Leading them was a Chess King soldier, holding a photo frame in its hands. Inside the frame was a photo, and in the photo was a nun wearing a blue habit, holding a cigarette in her hand and grinning widely.
This was the nun who adopted Big Mom Charlotte Linlin when she was a child, named Carmel, the previous user of the Soul-Soul Fruit ability. On the surface, she was a kind nun who founded the "House of Lambs" to shelter homeless children, ran a charity, and was even given the title of "Saint Mother." She had a good personal relationship with the Giant Race. But... In reality, she was a child human trafficker with close ties to the Marine and the CP Organization, and her friendship with the Giant Race was merely a ploy to abduct people from the Giant Race to work for the World Government.
However, this nun probably never expected that on Big Mom Charlotte Linlin's sixth birthday, while eating cake, she would be knocked unconscious by the Haoshoku Haki Big Mom Charlotte Linlin unintentionally released due to being too happy, and then eaten... Sephiroth watched as the photo of Nun Carmel was placed on the round table, across from Big Mom Charlotte Linlin's position. He couldn't help but weigh things in his mind.
In the original story, after this photo frame was broken, Big Mom Charlotte Linlin's incredibly powerful Armament Haki was directly broken, and she herself fell into a state of madness and chaos as a result. If he were to break the photo frame now, could he take the opportunity to kill this old woman...? Sephiroth thought about it and ultimately abandoned this highly uncertain plan. Don't look at how Luffy and the others broke the photo frame and Big Mom was immediately broken; that might have been the effect of the protagonist's halo.
If it were him, Sephiroth, there's no guarantee that Big Mom wouldn't just go berserk, unleash over 120% of her combat power, and fight him to the death! Although he wasn't afraid of Big Mom, getting into a death match with the entire Big Mom Pirates over this seemed somewhat not worth it... After all, although Big Mom had threatened him and made him attend the tea party, the two sides were not yet hostile, and there was no need for him to foolishly risk his life provoking the Big Mom Pirates now. First, figure out what the other party is up to before considering subsequent plans.
Anyway, given Big Mom's custom of holding a tea party at least once a year, Sephiroth would have plenty of opportunities to smash the photo frame and attempt an assassination; there was no need to rush it now. As if sensing something, Katakuri sat silently beside Sephiroth with his arms crossed, giving him a look. Observation Haki masters are really troublesome!
Sephiroth raised the goblet in his hand and took a sip of the 'sister juice'. He found that this stuff actually tasted quite good.
Compared to ordinary juice, it had an indescribable special flavor that was somewhat endlessly delightful. No wonder Smoothie, this 'juicer princess', liked to use people to make juice to drink!
"Linlin, this is your son's wedding, so I specifically sent someone to the West Blue to find some very rare treasures!" Saying this, Stussy waved her hand, and two people carried a large treasure chest to the side of the round table. "I also brought a chest of treasures from the South Blue..." Morgans said, unwilling to be outdone.
As the two started, the underworld bosses who made a living in the underground world also had their treasure chests brought out one after another, making Big Mom Charlotte Linlin laugh uncontrollably.
Stussy looked at Sephiroth, who was sitting leisurely on a chair next to her, sipping 'sister juice'. She couldn't help but recall the incident where she had been humiliated by him not long ago. So, she immediately said in a sarcastic tone:
"Oh dear! Sephiroth, I wonder what gift you brought for Linlin?
"I heard that as a high-level executive of the Umbrella Corporation, with an annual salary of tens of billions, you are a super-rich tycoon..."
"So, what you brought must be even more precious than ours, right? Moreover, this is your first time attending the tea party. If the gift is too light, it would be quite unacceptable!"
Hearing this, Sephiroth immediately gave Stussy a sidelong glance. He said in a sarcastic tone, "Of course. I'm so rich, my gift is naturally very valuable. Unlike you, who can only earn some hard money with your body, you probably can't bring out anything good..."
As he spoke, he stood up, drew the butcher knife from his waist, opened a small door, and took out an ordinary small wooden box from inside.
Hearing his words, Stussy couldn't help but grit her teeth in anger and curse inwardly. You scoundrel! Although I manage the entire Pleasure Quarter, I'm a young lady, not a prostitute, okay?
Stussy, somewhat unable to contain her anger, subconsciously sneered, "You're too stingy! What valuable things can fit in just a small box..."
"It's alright! At least worth a small goal of one hundred million..."
As he spoke, Sephiroth casually opened the small wooden box, revealing a Devil Fruit that resembled a pineapple, with a brown peel covered in spiral patterns, to everyone.
Hiss!
Many onlookers gasped, thinking to themselves that Sephiroth was indeed wealthy and generous, actually using a Devil Fruit as a gift. You know, every Devil Fruit, regardless of its ability, can be auctioned for at least a hundred million Berries, and some Devil Fruits with powerful abilities can easily fetch several billion Berries.
Of course, the Devil Fruit itself is actually more like priceless, something that is encountered by chance and cannot be sought after!
"This Devil Fruit isn't recorded in the encyclopedia, I wonder what its ability is..." Morgans muttered, gently stroking his chin.
"Who knows!" Sephiroth smiled meaningfully and did not directly state the ability of this Devil Fruit. Would he tell others that this Devil Fruit was the Paramecia-type Goro Goro no Mi, a trash Devil Fruit that turns the user into a minecart person after eating it?
Sephiroth thought about it repeatedly.
He really didn't want to give this pitfall fruit to his subordinates to eat. So, he finally decided to simply make use of this Devil Fruit as waste, clear out some inventory from his personal space, and give it to Big Mom as a favor! Hopefully, Big Mom will give this Devil Fruit to her excellent children to eat... If I can trick one into dying, that's one! Anyway, he, Sephiroth, is completely non-stick! Amused.
"Mamamama! I didn't expect you, Sephiroth, to give me such a valuable gift, I'm so happy!"
Big Mom Charlotte Linlin, completely unaware, picked up the Devil Fruit from the small wooden box. She examined it carefully in front of her, laughing like a ten-ton child, full of innocence.
Thanks to Sephiroth's generosity, Big Mom had a smiling expression throughout the entire tea party, occasionally chatting with him about various things. The wedding proceeded exceptionally smoothly. There was no incident like Sephiroth had imagined, where Big Mom would smash a cup as a signal. He hadn't expected a group of Big Mom Pirates members to swarm him and take him down directly.
However, as the tea party drew to a close, Perospero invited him to a reception room in Cake City...